GRSE Shows Strong Performance in FY2020-21, Focus on Smart Manufacturing (Industry 4.0)

Defence Industry

Kolkata: GRSE’s (Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited) 105th Annual General Meeting (AGM) September 10 highlighted the continuation of strong performance by the Mini Ratna, Category 1 DPSU during FY 2020-21.

The company showed growth in revenue earnings, EBITDA margin, profits (before tax and after tax) and during the reported period delivered two Warships (one for the Indian Navy and one for Seychelles Coast Guard) making the total warship number delivered till end of March 31,  2021 as 107.

With its emphasis on export and realigning marketing strategies to match with the dynamic global environment, GRSE has pioneered its core objective of defence preparedness and continued its thrust on exports under the vision “Security And Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)” adopted by Government of India and achieved the distinction of inducting 90% indigenous contents onboard warships for Indian Navy such as Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes, Landing Craft Utilities under Make in India initiative.

Despite the challenges posed by the twin wave of covid-19, GRSE launched the 1st Ship of the Prestigious P17A Advanced Frigate “Himgiri” way ahead of its schedule and delivered one warship to Indian Coast Guard just two days after the first phase of lockdown restrictions were over.

The Shipyard is currently executing six shipbuilding projects including three Advanced Frigates under Project 17A, four Survey Vessels (Large) & eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts for the Indian Navy and one Fast Patrol Vessel for the Indian Coast Guard, apart from the export ships for Republic of Guyana and Government of Bangladesh.

Modernization of infrastructure has enhanced the capacity across Shipyard’s three ship building locations with the construction of 20 ships concurrently. Commissioning of the 250 Ton Goliath Crane was another milestone achieved and a first of its kind. Apart from shipbuilding & ship repair, GRSE has diversified into Engineering Business with a product profile of Pre-fabricated Steel Bridges, various Deck Machinery Items such as Anchor Capstans, Boat Davits, Pumps etc. & Assembly/ Testing/ Overhauling of MTU Diesel Engines.

Rear Admiral V K Saxena, IN (Retd.), Chairman & Managing Director, in his address to the shareholders, stated that GRSE has a strong order book which stands approximately at Rs. 25,707 crores as on March 31, 2021 having 17 warships across six projects under execution currently. GRSE has been consistent in paying dividend to the shareholders and has done so every year for the last 27 years. He expressed his confidence in Team GRSE to emerge strong amidst the uncertainties created by the global pandemic and  appreciated the hard work and dedication of all the employees in taking the Company on its path of success & thanked the investors for their faith, commitment & confidence in the Shipyard. The unstinted support from the Ministry of Defence, Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Central and State Government Authorities has helped GRSE achieve its goals, he said.

GRSE, in order to maintain its competitive edge in digitization, is shifting to smart manufacturing (Industry 4.0), through thrust on innovations in automation, robotics and the industrial internet of things. It is also introducing Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Interoperability and secured connectivity enabling real time monitoring. This control and optimization of processes, resources and systems is expected to help in workload consolidation across Design, Production & Supply Chain Management, significantly in the current & future projects of the company.

The Meeting was attended by Rear Admiral VK Saxena, IN (Retd), Chairman & Managing Director, GRSE, Cmde Sanjeev Nayyar, IN (Retd.), Director (Shipbuilding), Cmde PR Hari, IN (Retd.), Director (Personnel), R K Dash, Director (Finance) and Sandeep Mahapatra, Company Secretary along with shareholders of the Company.